Camellia
by over melody
Summary: Shinomiya Kojirou and Yamazaki Tsubaki used to be friends. They meet at a bar ten years later. —Shinomiya/OC


Yamazaki Tsubaki hadn't spoken to Shinomiya Kojirou for a decade. Even when they were both instructors or judges at Toutsuki events, they avoided each other.

After Tsubaki had come to France with good intentions in mind after Kojirou left Japan and had gotten her heart broken, she had impulsively gotten married to a former classmate who had gotten expelled in his second year. They had just filed their divorce.

Who would have thought that, ten years later, she and Kojirou would start talking to each other again? At a bar, no less?

They complained and kept asking the bartender for one more drink. Tsubaki was upset about her divorce and Kojirou was upset because of something that had happened at the training camp earlier that day.

"What does—who the hell does he think he is?!" Tsubaki whined, hiccuping. She was speaking about her soon-to-be ex-husband, of course. "This is all your fault! I wouldn't have married him if it wasn't for yooooooou."

Kojirou was on his fifth drink. "Oi, whose fault is it? You're the one who thought that it was a good idea to get married to that loser."

Tsubaki pouted and punched his shoulder, spilling some beer on herself. "Do you think you got it so bad 'cause you're starting to stagnate? I was in the Elite Ten! I own the best restaurant in Shibuya! Look at me! Why would he cheat on someone like me?! I'm the best woman you could ever hope for."

Tsubaki was vain, especially when she was drunk.

"You're the shortest woman I know," Kojirou scoffed.

"That ain't true. What about Jun-senpai?" Even after all this time, Tsubaki referred to Shiomi Jun as 'senpai'. When Jun was about to graduate, they were in their second year of Toutsuki's middle school. She climbed onto his lap then, knocking over her barstool and spilling her drink onto his shirt. "Are you saying you don't want meeeeee?" Before he could answer, the bartender threw them out and told them to get a room.

So they went back to Kojirou's hotel room.

* * *

They went back to not talking to each other after and they never told anyone about what happened. They had both been drunk beyond belief, so it might as well never happened anyway.

A few weeks later, with a pregnancy test in her hand, Tsubaki decided that sleeping with him was the stupidest thing she had done in her life. It was even more idiotic than marrying Tsutsuji Arato.

* * *

"Y-You're what?!" Kojirou was, of course, shocked.

She had gotten over being shocked one week ago and was now in some weird state of disbelief.

"Five weeks pregnant," Tsubaki repeated mildly, flipping back her hair. "I went to my doctor yesterday I don't expect money or help from you."

She didn't want money or help from him, but did _need_ it. Being a single mother in Japan was hard and finding a daycare that worked with her hours would be impossible, as she owned a busy restaurant and worked twelve hours a day. Her parents refused to help. They were traditional.

Tsubaki didn't want to tell him about the baby in the first place, but it was the right thing to do. When Kojirou didn't say anything, the woman told him that she was going to hang up the phone, but he told her to wait.

"Yes?" Tsubaki asked.

Kojirou seemed to have composed himself. "I want to help."

"There's nothing you can do to help," she muttered.

Her parents had been hoping it was Arato's child so it could keep their marriage together but it had been a long time since she and Arato had done anything. He was much too busy with his mistress.

"I'm going to be a father," he said more firmly, though his voice sounded hesitant hesitant. "I want to help you take care of this child and you can't stop me."

Only because it was the right thing to do, Tsubaki knew. There was a part of her that was hoping he'd say this, but not because of the support. She may still have been a little in love with him.

"You're in France," Tsubaki said,. "But I'll be getting a first trimester ultrasound in a month. Come back to Japan then."

* * *

"You… you're seriously pregnant?!" Hinako exclaimed over the phone.

Tsubaki told her a week later. Perhaps she had taken so long to tell her because Tsubaki still wasn't fully convinced she was pregnant.

"Yes and, before you ask, I'm still going through with the divorce because it's not his child. And before you ask about that, it's Kojirou's."

"K-Kojirou?! He knocked you up?! B-But you two haven't talked for years…" Hinako grew quiet before whispering, "Is he good in bed? He seems like he would be good in bed."

"Is that what's important here?" Tsubaki said airily. She lowered her voice. "I don't actually remember. Both of us were drunk out of our minds." Kojirou did, however, seem like he'd be good in bed.

"Have you told him yet?"

"Yes." Tsubaki saw a boutique that hadn't yet closed. It sold baby clothes. How strange, she thought. Shibuya was known for trendy clothes, not baby clothes. She decided to go inside. They would be necessary soon.

"But, Tsubaki-chan. Is Kojirou going to help you?" She laughed mirthlessly.

"He wants to. I mean, he's in France most of the time, but he wants to."

Hinako gasped dramatically. "Tsubaki-chan, didn't you hear? He wants to open another restaurant in Tokyo. He asked someone to start looking for a spot a couple weeks ago."

Tsubaki had just started flipping through a rack of white and green baby clothes. "I—are you serious?"

* * *

Tsubaki was still debating her options. There was still the matter of childcare, as there was no way she could bring a baby to work and she worked twelve hours every day and she didn't plan to count on Kojirou much.

That was what Tsubaki thought until she remembered that Nakiri Saezaemon and Doujima Gin had been trying to get her to accept a job as a Chinese cuisine lecturer because of how well her part of the training camp always went. It was the middle of the year, but it was fine because they were only using a substitute teacher right now until they could find someone else. She didn't mind closing up the restaurant for a while. There would be only second-years and first-years.

The hours would be much better and by the time Tsubaki gave birth, it would be during the holiday before the next school year.

Tsubaki would be one of the youngest lecturers there, which bothered her, but at least she'd still be cooking.

* * *

Jun allowed her to stay in the Shiomi Seminar. Tsubaki had been to one to move out of the apartment she and Arato lived in, so before this she had been staying at a hotel.

"Tsubaki, you can have all that baby stuff I showed you earlier!" Jun set down a cup of tea on her side. "This is decaf, by the way. I heard rooibos is good for pregnant women."

She smiled in appreciation. "Thank you but, er… Jun-senpai, why do you have all this stuff? You've never had a baby before."

"Oh, this is all from when I first adopted Akira," Jun said, sitting down.

Tsubaki blinked. "You adopted Akira eight years ago. He's a first-year, so… he's around fifteen? Again, why do you have all that baby stuff?"

She smiled sheepishly. "It's a long story."

* * *

Tsubaki was, of course, used to the American-style system Toutsuki employed. All of the students had their own unique schedule, so there was no point in making them all wait in the same classroom.

"You're our instructor now?" Yukihira Soma was sitting all the way in the back of class.

"Yes, I will be your instructor for the rest of the year."

Some were excited to be taught by one of the training camp instructors and a former Elite Ten member, but those who had actually been part of her course shared nervous glances. There were mostly first-years. Tadakoro Megumi was also in her class. She had been hoping for that second-year, Kuga Terunori, but it seemed as though he was only interested in Sichuan food. Tsubaki had decided long ago that she liked Soma and Megumi, even though they weren't in her training camp. They had, after all, had the will to have a Shokugeki with Kojirou. She'd been in the baths while it was all going on.

"Today, I'll show you a dish from the Anhui region—phoenix-tail shrimp. Write down all of the ingredients and steps diligently. You'll have forty-five minutes to complete the dish."

* * *

A month passed. Kojirou had ambivalently come to the hospital after all.

It was more awkward than Tsubaki thought it would be but they both received sonogram photos.

He told her that his new restaurant would probably be opened in the winter, before the baby arrived, so he'd be around a lot more often then.

Afterwards, Kojirou insisted on talking, so they sat down on a bench outside.

"Tsubaki-chan…" He shifted uncomfortably before placing a hand on her belly, as if to see if there was really a baby in there even though they had gotten the ultrasound.

"I'm only ten weeks pregnant," Tsubaki snapped, taking his hand off of her stomach, though she remembered that everyone had told her to be at leastcivil to the father of her child since he'd be involved.

He turned away. "You've changed a lot in the last decade."

Getting your heart broken, getting married, being cheated on, and then getting divorced could do that to people, she wanted to say.

He fidgeted, unsure of what so say. Tsubaki had never seen him look so hesitant before. "Do you know what you're going to name the baby?"

"No. How long are you going to be in Japan this time?" Hopefully not long.

He leaned back against the bench and adjusted his glasses. "A week."

"Should you really be away from your restaurant for that long?" Tsubaki just didn't want him here.

"It'll be fine. I hear you're closing up shop?"

"Just for a little while." A lie. It would be no less than a year after the baby was born until she could return to the restaurant. "I'll be a lecturer at Toutsuki."

"Doujima must be having a field day right now. It's been ages since they've been able to recruit a former Elite Ten higher than fifth."

There was a long, awkward silence. Kojirou was the one to speak up. "Are you as scared as I am? I didn't… think I'd ever be a father."

Tsubaki stared up at the sky. Very soon, it would be summer. "I'm very scared. I didn't think I'd ever be a mother either." She wanted to be a mother very badly but didn't think it was ever going to happen. "Have you told your mother?"

"She wants to meet you." Kojirou scoffed. "She thought she'd never, ever have a grandchild. You should have seen how happy she was. Have you told your parents?"

Tsubaki sighed. "Yeah. They wanted it to be Arato's even though we're getting divorced. They aren't talking to me anymore."

Her divorce wasn't finalized yet.

"At least you won't have to deal with that loser anymore," Kojirou replied gruffly. "Tsubaki-chan, why don't we go to the market and see if there's anything good?"

Was he trying to cheer her up? Tsubaki wanted to say no, but it would be a good idea to try to get on good terms on Kojirou, even if it was very difficult for her.

"I'm not doing anything, so why not?"

This was the most she and Kojirou had talked for a long time.

* * *

They didn't really talk to each other and mostly paid attention to the fish and vegetables. Tsubaki saw some high-quality spices, so she decided to buy a pound of grains of paradise, amchur powder, and long pepper for Jun and Akira. It was the least she could do for Jun, who had given her a place to stay.

Finding an apartment near the school was near-impossible since most were occupied by Toutsuki students. After all, there was only one actual dormitory on campus—the Polar Star dormitory. During her time there, Tsubaki had been lucky enough to get a place to stay at the Chinese Research Society building from her first year of middle school.

About ten minutes after, they started wandering aimlessly around and then decided to split up. Tsubaki went to the next area, to the flowers while Kojirou continued to examine the fruits and vegetables carefully.

Tsubaki had just been admiring some red camellias. Her mother had named her Tsubaki because of her deep red hair.

She was considering buying a bouquet for herself when she noticed that Arato was there; she hid her face. He was a slender, dark-haired man with angular features. Next to a woman she vaguely remembered. If she remembered correctly, Arato called her Sayu-chan. Was her name Sayuri? He had brought her home with him once. Tsubaki filed for divorce immediately afterwards. Sayuri was carrying a bouquet of sunflowers.

Luckily, Tsubaki was only ten weeks along, so she wasn't showing yet. They weren't speaking and Arato, as someone who was expelled, had no connections to the others so he had no way of knowing. The only thing he probably did know about her was that her restaurant was closed.

Tokyo was a huge city. Why did Arato have to come to this market?

Arato had seen her after all. "Tsubaki-chan? Is that you?"

She inwardly groaned and turned to look at him, a smile plastered on her face. "Arato-san," the woman greeted. The last time they had met, the two of them had gotten over arguing and yelling and were only cloying to each other. Being glib to him made her want to puke.

Well, a lot of things made her want to puke these days, but that was because of her pregnancy. At least it hadn't affected her taste buds. She'd read somewhere online that pregnancy could be the cause of altered taste.

"It's nice to see you, Yamazaki-san!" Sayuri chirped. She was young, probably twenty or twenty-one.

Tsubaki bore little ill will towards her; she had heard that when they first started seeing each other, Sayuri didn't even know he was married. Her vivacity, however, was a bit annoying.

"You too," Tsubaki said automatically.

"Sayu-chan and I are just having a little date. Are you here by yourself?" Arato asked saccharinely.

She was about to say yes, but Kojirou strode up to her, a bag of something he just bought in his hands. "Hey, Tsubaki-chan, try this!" He popped a strawberry into her mouth then. It was very sweet. "These are very high-quality, aren't they?" Kojirou placed a hand around her shoulder.

It got more attention than Tsubaki would have liked. She knew it was far different in France but in Japan, even holding hands would garner some attention.

Tsubaki was bewildered but it was obvious what he was trying to do, so she went along with it. "Yes," she said swallowing and plastering a smile on her face. "It's delicious." She leaned back into him. Kojirou was a head taller than her.

Arato looked surprised too, while Sayuri seemed to be admiring Kojirou. "S-Shinomiya-san? What are you doing in Japan?"

"Visiting my girlfriend, of course," Kojirou drawled. "Who are you, again?"

Tsubaki had to fight back a smirk. Arato looked flustered. "I'm Tsutsuji Arato. We went to school together."

"Ah, that's right. You were offed when you challenged Fuyumi for her seat in the Elite Ten and lost," Kojirou said, not even trying to fake cheeriness.

Fuyumi had defeated him so badly that he never wanted to cook again. She had to hide her smirk.

"A-Ah, yes, that's me. Um. I should go now." Arato cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse me."

"Bye, Yamazaki-san!" Sayuri called, following after Arato.

As soon as they were out of sight, Kojirou released her and they broke out into laughter. Back then, Kojirou had pretended to be her boyfriend a few times to stop guys from hitting on her. It made her nostalgic.

"Thank you for that. I mean it," Tsubaki said. She was genuinely smiling.

Kojirou stopped laughing immediately and looked away, adjusting his glasses and coughing. His face was tinted red. "That loser was practically asking for it."

It seemed as though her resentment towards Kojirou was starting to lessen and she was hungry. After deliberating in silence, she decided to invite him out to lunch. "Kojirou-san, I'm craving meat. We should go to Kirinoya."

"Right now?" Kojirou crossed his arms. "Well, you should definitely eat something for the baby. And Hinako will never let me live it down if she finds out that I came to Japan without seeing her."

Why couldn't he just say what he actually meant?

Getting a table at any of the restaurants of Toutsuki graduates without a reservation was difficult, but Hinako loved both of them, so they wouldn't have any trouble.

* * *

She was feeling much better about her pregnancy, though Tsubaki still had a stubborn desire to be cold to Kojirou.

By the time Tsubaki came home, it was three. They were discussing baby names. Once, when Tsubaki was a child, she wanted to have two children, a boy and a girl. The boy would be named Taiyou, after the sun, and the girl would be named Tsukiko, after the moon. She didn't explain the full story to Kojirou, who said that they should name the baby after her even if it was a boy.

Jun was delighted by the spices.

"You look happy, Tsubaki!" Jun said, still sniffing the spices. "Did you get the picture thing?"

"Yup. Do you want to see?" Tsubaki dug it out of her purse and slid it over the table.

"…which part is the baby?" Jun blinked.

Tsubaki laughed. "The grayish part is the baby."

"You seemed terrified about the baby last month," Jun said, stretching. She was wearing her spice shirt again.

"Actually seeing the baby must have calmed me down," Tsubaki mused. "Anyhow, the students will be returning home for the summer in a couple weeks, and then we have the Autumn Elections. I'm sure Akira will make it to the finals, but who else?"

Jun craned her neck to the side, trying to think. "There's Nakiri-sensei's other granddaughter, Nakiri Alice, and her assistant."

"Then Nakiri Erina's secretary, right? And then Yukihira Soma and that Italian boy. I heard that Nakiri-sensei is calling this generation the Jewel Generation. I guess they're pretty good."

"Yukihira… sounds familiar," Jun muttered. "I knew a woman with that name once. She ended up marrying that bastard."

"Eh? What bastard?"

"Saiba Jouichirou, of course! That bastard!"

Oh. Jun had told her countless times about the horrors that man had put her through with his food.

Tsubaki sighed, placing a hand on her stomach. The doctor had said she would start showing in about two months. "You're still mad at him?"

"Of course! If I ever meet his kid, I'm gonna—!" Jun was trying to seem scary but it made her look adorable instead. She was cut off by Akira, who told her that Nakiri wanted to see her.

Tsubaki had to fight back the urge to laugh. Just then, Kojirou messaged her. _My mother still wants to see you. Let's meet up tomorrow._

* * *

I'm guessing that the training camp arc takes place in late April/early May. By the end of this chapter, it's late June. Please note that summer holiday in Japan doesn't start until late July.

I do not know if I want the same exact events in Fated To Love You to happen yet; I don't have a specific outline. Don't worry, soon enough the other characters will come in. This was more like a prologue. Please review and leave your thoughts.


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